1/ How to interpret #Putin’s nuclear war threats
If #Russia's economy collapses & #Ukraine war fails, a limited nuclear strike to demonstrate resolve is not inconceivable.
I'd say very likely. Analysts & diplomats with good links to #Putin are worried.
asiatimes.com/2022/03/how-to…
If #Russia's economy collapses & #Ukraine war fails, a limited nuclear strike to demonstrate resolve is not inconceivable.
I'd say very likely. Analysts & diplomats with good links to #Putin are worried.
asiatimes.com/2022/03/how-to…
2/ By alluding to a disproportionate nuclear escalation, Moscow wants to limit (or even reverse) western interference in Ukraine, in order to make the Russian war effort more sustainable. The West’s most powerful weapon at present is sanctions rather than military intervention.
3/ This carries its own risks. If such measures were really to cause the near-term “collapse of the Russian economy” & threaten the survival of the domestic order, the Russian elite might come to perceive that existential threat as making victory vital in Ukraine, at all costs.
4/ In these circumstances, a limited nuclear strike to demonstrate resolve or to break Ukrainian resistance would not be inconceivable. It is crucial, therefore, that sanctions remain geared toward ending Russia’s war effort, not to unseating the Putin regime.
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